Technology and Operations Strategy
Block week in New York City
August 24 – 28, 2015
Instructors:
Nelson M. Fraiman - nmf1@columbia.edu - 212 854 2076
Medini R. Singh - ms2149@columbia.edu - 646 823 5917
Summary
This course focuses on the roles technology & operations play in the development and
implementation of strategy. In the core Strategy Formulation course, you learned about the
foundations of corporate success and how managers can devise a set of actions (the strategy) to
achieve a competitive edge. Strategy development, at a fundamental level, is to identify an effective
match between a firm’s distinctive capabilities and selected markets.
This course takes a new look at strategy formulation/implementation: we will focus on a firm’s key
operational and technological decisions (e.g., processes, capacities, technologies, process
improvement, project management, supply chains) in order to understand how effective the firm’s
resulting operational capabilities (e.g., cost, quality, flexibility, delivery) match the markets it strives to
serve.
Conversely, we will also consider how to translate a business strategy into a set of actions and how
these actions can be measured and supported for continuous improvements. However, given shifting
market trends and evolving industry dynamics, a short‐term match between capabilities and current
markets does not necessarily imply a sustainable competitive advantage. What operational and
technological capabilities a firm chooses to develop can have a profound impact on its strategic
options in the future. In other words, strategic operational decisions made today will determine the
firm’s operational capabilities tomorrow which in turn influence its business strategy in the future.
Consequently, we will also try to emphasize the long‐term impact of strategic operational and
technological decisions.
We will typically have classes in the morning and visit facilities to illustrate the deployment of
technology and operations strategy concepts in the afternoons.
Faculty:
Nelson M. Fraiman is Professor of Professional Practice and Director of the W.
Edwards Deming Center. Professor Fraiman joined Columbia Business School in
1995. He is a professor of practice in the Decision, Risk, and Operations division
and is director of the W. Edwards Deming Center for Quality, Productivity and
Competitiveness.
He teaches the core Operations Management course. He is also the Faculty
director of ECLA (Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Latin America), a
program for Latin American entrepreneurs who aim to be successful across borders.
Prior to Columbia Business School he spent seventeen years in industry and consulting. His last job
was with International Paper where he was chief technology officer for eight manufacturing divisions.
His current research centers on entrepreneurship and process improvement. He has written cases on
operational excellence on the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the supply chain strategies of Zara and Mango.
He has also conducted executive education programs in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle
East. Professor Fraiman holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering, an M.S., M.B.A., and a Ph.D., all from
Columbia University.
Medini R. Singh comes to Columbia from the Tuck School of Business at
Dartmouth. At Tuck, Singh taught the MBA core course in operations
management for the last six years. He has also taught MBA electives on timebased competition and simulation modeling. Singh has also taught in the
Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he won the 1991 Teacher of the Year Award. His
research interests are in the areas of modeling, analysis and optimization of
manufacturing and service systems. His current research focuses on the impact of demand and supply
uncertainties on the performance of supply chains. Singh has published numerous articles on the
impact of yield, demand and supply uncertainties on the performance of manufacturing systems. He
has also consulted for several Fortune 500 companies. His PhD is from Carnegie Mellon University.
Deliverables:
The class will be divided into teams of five to six members. Each subsection of the team will be
responsible for preparing and delivering to the class a seven to ten minute presentation on their
assigned topic. In addition, the class participants need to complete the appropriate poll before
discussion of the case in class.
Grading:
Your grade in the course will be based on your individual as well as group efforts and performance.
Your performance will be judged through a variety of mechanisms that will enable us to assess your
understanding of the tools and concepts covered your ability to synthesize, integrate, and apply them,
and your contributions to the class's learning experience. Thus, in determining your course grade, we
will use the following grading scheme to help us judge your performance:
Class Participation
40%
Sub team Presentation
30%
Participation in Poll
30%